Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Matisse Inspired Apples

My Experiment

I originally saw this project on Artsonia and then again on Fine Lines and The Teaching Palette. I was happy to finally give it a go with my Drawing and Painting class today. After looking at Matisse's "Apples" of 1916 as well as the shading in Cezanne's apple still life work, the children traced a plate and used watercolor for the first layer of their pieces. We talked about what a "bird's eye view" was so they understood the perspective of this project a bit more. Once dry, they created apples by making prints with paper cups and then filling them in with their paint brushes. Since I have children ages 5-9, this was a nice way for everyone to feel successful. They created shadows by painting a "C" shape on one side of their apples as well as their plates. Stems were added with Sharpie and then shaded with a bit of charcoal. And last, they used chalk pastel and white chalk to add some additional shading and highlights.

Hi Mary -- This takes me back to when we tried this lesson, too. I like the way your kids made the shadows more prominent with paint. I was timid about my kids using paint for the shadows and had them use oil pastels or crayons instead for that step. It was my one regret because our shadows were not dark enough. I also love the highlights with white chalk and pastels -- I'll definitely try that next time too. Bravo to your artists!

Thanks all! These were done by K-4th graders. Tracing the plate ("But Miss Mary, you said you never use tracers." - there are always exceptions :) and printing the apples was helpful in leveling the playing field, so to speak.)

Personal Art

Charcoal

About Me

Thanks for stopping by MaryMaking! I'm a SCAD grad with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design. I've worked in advertising and as a fine artist. I decided to combine two of my biggest loves, art and kids, and began teaching small private art classes. I Love helping children create beautiful artwork. This blog has been a great way to exchange ideas and learn from other art educators.